Williams, Bettis, Greene repeat as HoF finalists

Former Rams Aeneas Williams, Jerome Bettis and Kevin Greene have all been included among the 17 finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for 2013. Williams and Greene are finalists for the second time; Bettis has been a finalist three straight years.

The list of finalists also includes:

* First-time eligibles Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp and Michael Strahan;

* Veterans Committee selections Curley Culp and Dave Robinson;

* Repeat finalists Tim Brown (fourth straight year), Chris Carter (sixth straight year), Charles Haley (fourth straight year), Bill Parcells (2nd year), Andre Reed (seventh straight year), Will Shields (2nd year);

* Art Modell, because nothing screams "Hall of Fame" like a carpetbagging owner;

* And once again, Edward DeBartolo Jr., because nothing screams "Hall of Fame" like an owner who built an NFL dynasty by violating salary cap rules to the point that his team was going to be stripped of draft picks. Then the league ran him out after he was indicted for trying to bribe a politician to get a casino built in Louisiana. Bribery and gambling: there's a couple of words the NFL and the Hall really love to be associated with, huh? Besides, Hall-of-Famers are supposed to set or break records, not have records.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, watching the baseball folks doing moral gymnastics to keep people out of their hall with even the remotest taint of cheating, while a rule-breaking, law-breaking, cheating, criminal owner continues to waltz within sniffing distance of having his own bust in Canton. I don't know who on the panel of Hall of Fame voters is responsible for the annual DeBartolo farce, but it needs to stop, and I DON'T mean by inducting him, either.

Repeating my predictions from the semi-finalists post: Allen, Carter, Haley, Ogden, Strahan. Reed certainly seems due, though. I think Williams and Bettis get in next year, though they, and Greene, are obviously worthy of the Hall right now.

-$-